Charity

Both as an individual and a business, charitable giving is important to me. On this page you will find information about and links to the main charities that I support. I have chosen seven charities working in three areas of concern to me:

JDRF is a personal choice, ever since this disease entered our lives in sadly dramatic fashion one Mothering Sunday.

Juvenile diabetes, now known as type 1 diabetes, is an incurable autoimmune disease often diagnosed in childhood, although it can develop at any age. An unknown trigger causes the immune system to destroy the body’s insulin-producing cells. Insulin is vital to life. If the disease is not diagnosed at an early stage, it leads to a biochemical cascade, resulting in the life-threatening condition diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

Please familiarise yourself with the 4Ts of diabetes. You may save a life one day:

Are you wondering what you can do to help? It’s the simplest things. When you realise someone has diabetes (of any type) be kind. Don’t make assumptions. Don’t judge them. Don’t imagine you understand their condition or the impact on their life. Just be kind, and listen.

Hard though it is to have a child with Type 1 Diabetes, I am acutely aware that we are one of the lucky families with access to insulin and blood testing equipment, and all the medical devices and novel technology that helps us to keep our daughter healthy. This is not the case for everyone around the world. T1 International works to change that, and achieve #insulin4all.

I first heard of 10:10, the UK climate action charity back in 2009 when they launched their 10% challenge. They challenged businesses, organisations and individuals to cut their carbon footprint by 10% by 2010. Since then they have grown into my favourite climate charity, providing positive and practical action to help our planet.

Preventing and reversing deforestation plays a vital part in the fight against climate change. The Rainforest Foundation UK achieves this by empowering indigenous people to protect their land. In their own words:

Indigenous peoples’ participation as well as their knowledge of the local ecology are now recognised as the most effective way of protecting the environment. We have been helping indigenous and local communities to protect millions of hectares of rainforest over the last 26 years and we will continue empowering forest people to secure lands and sustain lives for future generations.

Working to protect the UK’s native woodlands, The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity. They also have an excellent blog which will be of interest to anyone who likes to explore our natural surroundings.

Having a child whose life depends on an uninterrupted supply of medication is frightening at the best of times. So I can’t begin to imagine the terror of being in that situation when your access to medicines and treatment is cut off. MSF work where they’re needed most: in conflict zones, natural disasters, epidemics, famines and more. It is incredibly important work.

Action Aid works with the poorest women and children in the world, and their work is focused on five themes:

Defending women’s rights

Food, hunger and sustainable livelihoods

Education

Tackling injustice

Emergencies and humanitarian response

In respect of the predominantly female tradition in which I work, and out of personal conviction, I wanted to include a charity focussing on women’s rights. This seemed a perfect choice. In their own words:

Women and girls in many of the world’s poorest places have the same rights and hopes, and are resourceful – but the odds are stacked against them. They might face violence, be forced to marry young, get taken out of school, barred from making decisions or earning their own living. They often have no choice about how they live their lives.

Our local staff understand the threats and challenges girls and women face. Working together they find ways to overcome these injustices, and regain the control and self-reliance to make their own decisions; go and study, earn a living, own land or choose their own husband.

We focus on women and girls. Because when they unlock their potential and claim their rights, they can change the course of their lives, and the lives of their families, forever.